Aaaaaand… a pony.

All Paul Johnson wants is something 115 D-1 programs were able to accomplish in 2009.

Last year, Johnson and quarterbacks coach Brian Bohannon said they hope to see Nesbitt complete more than 50 percent of his passes.

Sounds like a pretty low bar to me, but then, again…

Joshua Nesbitt completed 38.5 percent of his passes in 2008, and improved to 43.9 percent last season.

And he’s got to hit Johnson’s target without his best receiver from last season coming back.

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California dreaming

Bob Stoops sounds like a man with one foot outside the Big XII’s door already.

“(The Big 12) has been great for us. We have been in a good number of Big 12 championship games and won a number of times. Obviously, it’s been good for us,” Stoops said. “But the more people are talking about (the Pac-10), the more people are thinking, ‘That’s exciting. That’s pretty cool. That has a chance to be special.’ It’s win/win. Best of everything.”

Stoops says a chance to play against Pac-10 schools in conference could open the window to one of the nation’s largest recruiting hotbeds, California. With the Big 12 South schools expected to join OU in the event of a merger, the Sooners would keep their traditional recruiting base of Texas strong, too.

“When I first heard it, I thought it was exciting. Thought, that has a chance to be pretty good, by bringing the West Coast recruiting into play,” Stoops said. “For us, especially to play down in Texas, has always been positive. I think that has a chance to be the best of everything, a good number of games we have in the South and then out West.

“It brings everything out West into play, particularly California.”

But it’s Missouri and Nebraska that need an ultimatum.  Right.

Like day follows night.

The only thing I’m shocked about is that it took so long for the threats to start.  (h/t College Football Talk) Seriously, don’t these clowns have some agriculture subsidies to worry about, or something?

Those dirty sumbitches!

Georgia isn’t the only SEC school which has rubbed a recent recruit the wrong way.

And at least Nelson had the courage of his convictions to speak publicly about it.  Stupidly, but publicly.

Steelepalooza: more 2010 Georgia gloom

Phil Steele had some nice things to say about our Dawgs yesterday.  While none of it rises to the heights of his “run the table” comment on ESPN, it’s all certainly encouraging.

First, from his follow-up post on strength of schedule, he listed the top teams seeing their schedule ease in 2010 compared with last year’s.  Here’s the chart:

Since 2004, Steele reports that teams appearing on this list have more than a 75% chance of equaling or bettering their previous year’s record.

Steele also hosted a live chat on his Facebook page.  He took several Georgia questions, starting with this one:

on AbrilPhil Steele: so uhhhhh, GEORGIA FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil Steele

Should be a good year to be a Bulldog fan. Richt does best when expectations are low. They have my #1 rated Oline, improved D and solid Spec Teams.

That was followed by this exchange:

Taylor MastersPhil Steele: UGA UT score prediction?

Phil Steele

Georgia 34 Tennessee 17

The Georgia-Florida game got a prediction request as well.

Taylor MastersPhil Steele: Do you see another blowout in the UGA UF game?

Phil Steele

No, down to the wire decided by a FG.

That certainly beats the last two years’ blowouts.  Here’s the last Q & A:

Jon AbrilPhil Steele: Phil, love your magazine,what do u think of UGA’s qb situation, aaron murray was the 2nd qb overall coming out of HS a few years back behind barkley, do you think he can come in as a true sophomore and lead our offense which should be stout this year, #1 ol in the sec, aj green, and our TE situation is looking solid, not to mention our running backs! do u think our offense will be dynamic enough to win the east?

Phil Steele

If he stays healthy they will have improved QB play with a tremendous supporting cast on offense. My #1 rated Oline, #5 RB’s and #2 REC’s in the country.

Yesterday at 11:05am

Jon Abril

what about the sec east, when its all said and done, where do u think we will stand?

Yesterday at 11:08am

Phil Steele

I project them 2nd but only a 3 pt dog to Florida so that is the key to the SEC East title.

Wednesday morning buffet

It’s the post-Peach State Preview breakfast line!

• Here’s one thing that makes me nervous about the 2010 season for Georgia:  finding adequate depth at outside linebacker from the incoming freshman class.  “Those guys are the body types we think will fit into that role,” Richt said. “I hope we don’t have to rely on those guys as they’re trying to figure it out, and some of them have got to grow a little bit physically, too. T.J.’s not a really thick guy right now. Dexter’s a little bit slim. Burrows is a bit more physical. But we need to get those guys in there and learn what to do, and hopefully we don’t have to play them too much.”
• And MaconDawg points out another area that makes me nervous, not just about 2010, but about 2011.  Because Georgia will need a new #1 then.
• Nervous item #3, Aaron Murray:  “Certain things you can’t be good at it unless you do them and do them in a game,” Richt said. “You can’t simulate a game, you can’t simulate national TV, you can’t simulate playing against whoever we’re going to play on our schedule. Along the way, there’s going to be bumps in the road and hopefully we can minimize those. The fact that he’s surrounded by a lot of veteran players on offense should help.”
• Talk about your mixed emotions – Bleacher Report is amateurish at best, this post is an embarrassing example of that… and yet, I find myself taking a certain amount of pleasure in the angst it’s generating in Tech Land.  Does that make me a bad person?
• At this point, no Lew Perkins story surprises me.  I will say that if he worked at Texas Tech, that $600K retention bonus due next year would be so not paid…
• Every time I read a story about how much the Big Ten paid out to its member institutions, the number continues to shrink.  Now it’s down to $19.9 million per team, according to University of Michigan Chief Financial Officer Jason Winters.  Obviously, that’s nothing to sneer at, but it’s not the yawning gap over the SEC that’s been portrayed, either.  (Nor does that include these moneys.)

Nick Marshall changes nothing.

First, I was a bit startled to learn last night that Nick Marshall had committed to Georgia (great get for both Richt and Fox, by the way).  Then, I was even more startled to learn that he had committed as a defensive back.

From there, though, it just gets buttah:

Athlete Nick Marshall of Wilcox County (Rochelle, Ga.) has announced plans to play both football and basketball for Georgia in the Class of 2011.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound prospect was also offered by Alabama, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Clemson, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. He was a silent commitment to the Yellow Jackets. [Emphasis added.]

A quarterback in high school, Marshall is rated three-stars and No. 31 nationally by ESPNU, but will play defensive back for the Bulldogs…

So let me get this straight – the top rated QB in the state prefers to play a new position for Georgia rather than his current position for the team to which he gave a silent commitment.  In other words, he’s the bizarro Joshua Nesbitt.

If Georgia Tech can’t pull in in-state talent like Marshall, who (1) wasn’t going to play QB at Georgia once LeMay committed and (2) is a good fit for Johnson’s offense, that doesn’t bode well for the long term.  Marshall is the kind of niche athlete that Johnson should be able to make a living from and, more importantly, needs to make a living from.  That he won’t be suiting up in gold just confirms that nothing is very different in Georgia recruiting circles, as much as Tech fans would like to insist otherwise.  (And I can’t help but wonder if Giff Smith’s departure had any effect here.)

As a side note, this brief sour grapes post has just the right hint of tartness to it, especially in light of this earlier declaration.